Yesterday I wrote about how to make 20 percent of your dollars contribute to 80 percent of your WOW factor. Here are a few more practical ideas that will help you spend wisely while creating a killer environment for your ministries.

1. Watch several episodes of “Design on a Dime” to prime the creative pump. I know you think I’m joking, but really, you can become an expert at this at least in your own mind. My personal test of ability is if one person other than your spouse thinks you are good at something.
2. Try this experiment: pick a project and see what can be done with $500. I have found that $500 is a good starting number because you can always sell one or two items around your church (the senior pastor’s desk for example) and come up with the cash.
3. Schmooze (get to know) your local construction people, artists, and garage sale shoppers to see what ideas they have or ask what they could contribute. When building our elementary space, we asked a few construction guys to help out in a special design and they brought their families to church to show them what they did.
4. Check out eBay, Craigslist, and your local junkyard or pawn shop. One man’s trash really is another man’s treasure.
5. Paint. Check home supply and hardware stores for returned cans of paint. If you like the color, it’s often cheaper than buying it new.

I’m not sure the “less is more” principle was meant to describe our budgets, but managing fewer financial resources is much more fun when we recognize that God has given us creative people resources.

Brian Vanderark is senior pastor of family ministries at Ada Bible Church in Ada, Michigan.